Koponen, Faverani help Barcelona over Efes

In a thriller, FC Barcelona Lassa bounced back from recent losses by downing Anadolu Efes Istanbul 89-78 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barcelona and Efes now have the same record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season - eight wins and 10 losses, each. Barcelona, however, grabbed the tie-break advantage if both teams finish the regular season with the same record, as it registered a 72-68 road loss in Istanbul earlier this season. Petteri Koponen led the winners with 20 points, Vitor Faverani added 18 in his first game with Barcelona and Victor Claver had 15 for the hosts. Brandon Paul led Efes with 25 points, Thomas Heurtel added 18 and Tyler Honeycutt 11 for the visitors. Barcelona's junior team, which recently won the Torneig de Basquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet and qualified to the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT finals, was honored at halftime.

A three-pointer by Paul ignited a 0-7 run, which Jayson Granger capped with a layup off a steal, prompting Barcelona to call timeout at 2-7. Ante Tomic stepped up with a layup, while Faverani followed a close basket with a bomb from downtown to keep Barcelona within 9-11. Faverani kept pacing Barcelona and a three-pointer by Koponen put Barcelona back in charge at 14-11. Free throws by Alex Kirk and a floater by Heurtel brought Efes within 16-15 after 10 minutes. Back-to-back triples by Can Maxim Mutaf and DaShaun Thomas boosted Efes's margin to 16-23 early in the second quarter. Koponen struck twice from downtown and so did Thomas and Alex Renfroe for a 25-28 score. Brad Oleson soon joined the three-point shootout to tie the game at 30-30. Rice also hit one from beyond the arc, but Honeycutt put Efes back on top, 33-34, at halftime. Paul followed an acrobatic three-point play with a bomb from downtown to give Efes a 33-40 lead right after the break. Doellman hit a jumper, Claver did better with a three-pointer and Faverani dunked, but an outstanding Paul singlehandedly kept Efes ahead, 43-48. Claver stayed on fire with a layup-plus-foul, which ignited a 10-0 run in which Navarro had 5 points, including a triple that gave Barcelona a 53-48 lead. Navarro hit free throws and fed Faverani for a huge dunk-and-foul. Faverani ignited the crowd with an off-balance basket and soon added a mid-range jumper that made it a double-digit game, 63-53, after 30 minutes. Renfroe scored in penetration and Claver followed a layup with a corner triple that seemed to break the game open, 70-55. It didn't last long, as Honeycutt scored twice around the basket, Paul hit another triple and Heurtel added two more to bring Efes within 75-71 midway through the fourth quarter. Paul remained hot, but so was Koponen, who kept Barcelona ahead, 85-78, with two minutes left. A three-pointer by Claver sealed the outcome down the stretch.

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS

FC Barcelona Lassa

"It was obviously a very difficult game for us. Everybody understands we played under big pressure because we desperately needed this win tonight, for many reasons, we had a lot to overcome. First of all, Faverani was with us with three days and played 26,27 minutes, which is strange, but it happens. Second, even today, after the first half, our doctor told me that Brad Oleson was injured and couldn't play. He has an ankle problem and we will see how serious it is tomorrow. Third, a problem we had all season with rebounds and turnovers. In the first half, we had 11 turnovers and gave up 8 offensive rebounds to a team like Efes, which is very strong on offensive rebounds. We need more consistency, which is obvious we don't have. When we were up by 16, I don't know what happened, but after a few minutes we were up by just 3. Basically, we have to analyze this. We don't have to turn the ball over and need to know how to stop transitions, when to make fouls and all that little, but very important things in basketball. I give credit to all the players in our team. We played together, stuck to our game plan and finally won this very important game against a talented, athletic team like Efes. Thank you to our fans for supporting us in a unique way."

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"First of all, congratulations to Barcelona, who played better than us, especially in the second half. They were the fair winners. I think we played a very good first half on defense, with a chance to get a bigger lead, but we were not doing well on offense and that prevented us from getting a bigger lead. They scored 30 points in the third quarter, with high shooting percentages, and the game went away. We had an opportunity to return and got within 2 points, but made some mistakes down the stretch. Barcelona is a team with great players on its roster and obviously, they have the talent to be in the playoffs, but it is a very difficult competition and every game is a do-or-die one. Every game is very difficult and it is difficult to foresee who will win. There are many good teams in the EuroLeague this season; it is very tough to know what will happen."

Players

KOPONEN, PETTERI

FC Barcelona Lassa

"Last week was tough for us. We lost at home against Olympiacos in the final seconds and also lost in the Spanish League against Tenerife. It was our time to bounce back and today, everybody was focused and we played well. We have Faverani now and I don't know if this is the greatest debut in Barcelona's history! He played a great game and really helped us: he is a great player. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half and made some stupid decisions. We were a little bit lost: we had 11 turnovers at halftime and knew we had to take better care of the ball. I think we did a great job in the second half, shooting the ball better. That was the key for the win tonight."

RICE, TYRESE

FC Barcelona Lassa

"I think Juanqui (Juan Carlos Navarro) gave us a big push in the third quarter. We improved our defense, got in transition and were able to find some easy baskets, which really helped us a lot. We were able to win by more than four points (Barcelona lost by 4 in Istanbul) but our biggest focus was winning the game. We have to build on this win, take good from it, learn from the bad things and try to go from there."

FAVERANI, VITOR

FC Barcelona Lassa

"I feel so glad, not because of [my performance], but because the team won. We really, really needed the game. I though we improved on rebounding, we improved running the court and we made a lot of three-point shots, which helped the team win. "

THOMAS, DESHAUN

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"They got it going in the third quarter. They hit some tough shots and were more focused mentally. Navarro is a legend and he and Koponen got their team going. They got them back in the game. It was very special to come back to Barcelona, going out there and playing three years later. It was special to see the fans, the guys on the team and everyone I know."

OSMAN, CEDI

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"We played good in the first half and were up by 1, but in the third quarter we let them score 30 points and I think that was the key. We need to play better defense, but even when we got closer in the fourth quarter, they made some crucial shots and we lost the game. It was a really tough game for us and we were really close to beating them, but like I said, the third quarter was the key. We allowed 30 points and should have played better defense. We have 12 more games and need to keep improving our game."